Monday, 8 October 2012

#ukesol chat summary: Tuesday 2nd October

The subject of Tuesday's #ukesolchat was:
"Making Courses Relevant for Learners." The chat took place at 9pm GMT and was congenially moderated by @dianatremayne. Participants were: @teacherthom, @samshep, @ShetlandEsol, @harrisonmike, @cathywint, @MelKirkwood, @hooperchris and @pysproblem81.

Surely all ESOL teachers strive towards creating lessons relevant to the needs and interests of the individual learners who make up their classes. In last Tuesday's #ukesolchat, teachers got together to discuss the best way of working towards this aim. A lively chat ensued: what follows is my attempt to summarise the main points. Sincere apologies if I have missed anything out!

Needs Analyses

An in-depth needs analyses is key to establishing a teaching programme which meets the learners' needs. @hooperchris suggested that our starting point has to be asking the learners. @MelKirkwood agreed: noting the importance too of "getting to know the learners" and what they do when they are not in the classroom.

So then, what exactly are we seeking to establish in our initial analyses? @hooperchris wished to stress that we should not limit ourselves to addressing the language needs of the learners. @samshep, however, felt that language
should remain at the forefront, and pointed out that "we can’t do stuff without language to do it.”@samshep went on to argue that learners often don’t have a sufficient “meta awareness” of language to
pinpoint their own linguistic needs.

@dianatremayne raised the issue of conflicts between the needs
and wants of learners and the course they are doing: a very important point for teachers who work towards certificated courses. As @dianatremayne pointed out, "some courses can be hard to make exciting..."

Making Syllabi Relevant

Some interesting ideas came out of this thread. @samshep suggested starting with themes and topics, then
identifying and sequencing language items in order of complexity within these themes. @samshep makes a mindmap of learners' needs and ideas for content which he then "whittles into a scheme." This seems like a neat idea, which puts the learners' interests at the very heart of the process.

@cathywint summarised @samshep's idea very neatly by suggesting that in this scenario, themes come from the learners
and language areas from the teacher.

@psyproblems81, however, felt that "getting
carried away with themes" might put teachers in danger of forgetting about language.

Local Language, Local Accents

Can you follow the dialogue in this short film made by a group of Shetlanders?

This thread of the discussion was kicked off by @dianatremayne whose
students had recently interviewed staff members, and had struggled to
understand the one Scottish accent! @ShetlandEsol felt that it
was important to focus on building learners’ awareness of the accents they
would be most likely to come into contact to on a daily basis.

@cathywint suggested the UK ESOL website as a rich source of
authentic listening material, and duly found the link: http://www.esoluk.co.uk/

Teachers can make good use of the learners' surrounding environment to raise awareness of local language and accents. @MelKirkwood suggested asking learners to note down phrases and expressions they overhear when out and about: e.g. on the buses. This can then be extended into a classroom activity, where learners teach each other the new lexis they have learned.

The next #ukesolchat?

@ShetlandEsol wondered how teachers adapted ELT resources in order to
make them relevant for ESOL learners. It soon became apparent from the quick barrage of responses that there is enough material here for a #ukesolchat in itself, and @dianatremayne suggested this as a possibility for next time.

Further Reading/Resources

@cathywint suggested the Reflect for ESOL resource pack: a fantastic resource which aims to put learners at the centre of their learning.

Film Project 2012

About Me

I am an ESOL teacher living in the Shetland Islands and working in a community education centre for adult learners. I am interested in almost everything to do with English Language Teaching, but am particularly keen on resource design and creative and learner centred approaches in ELT. I use this blog to reflect on my teaching and to share ideas and resources.
All views expressed here are my own.